Elise Landau is a naive nineteen year old when she is sent by her family from Vienna, where as a young Jewish woman she is in danger, to an English manor house to work as a servant. It is 1939 and Elise has grown up in relative privilege, now she must wait on strangers, as others once waited on her. She stumbles with the language and her new role as subservient to those once her equal. This is a wonderfully rich story with well portrayed characters and would make an excellent book club choice as there is much to discuss, especially the many difficult choices Elise must make in her life.